Is the smiley passive aggressive?

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The other day somebody on social media somewhere said something about the smiley – this guy 🙂 – being passive aggressive. 🙂 You can be rest assured that one was not passive aggressive there 🙂

I’ve been struggling with that comment a bit. I use the smiley all the time. Mostly because the people I’m writing can’t see I’m smiling since it’s all text based. Or I use it to show agreement. Typically, it’s a positive expression for me. It’s shorter than me writing: You should see me smiling.

So I discussed this with a focus group – aka a few people that I stopped in the hallway – and they all agreed with the poster. Yes, it’s often passive aggressive. Hmmm. OK. Good to know. I actually went back to a few messages that I had sent with a smiley – not a passive aggressive one, though – to re-evaluate if they could be read that way. And lo and behold they could be read as passive aggressive. I hope they weren’t taken that way. (See, had I put a smiley right there, that certainly could be seen as passive aggressive.)

It’s always good to listen to people and how messages are received. So if you are smiling at somebody – keep in mind they might take it as passive aggressive. I suppose that could happen offline, too, though.

OK, I think that clears this up. Now, what about the winking smiley? 😉

Disclaimers:
The information provided in articles is for informational purposes only and not personalized advice. It's accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time it's published. Enjoy and best of luck telling the best stories in your organization and life!

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Hello and thanks for stopping by. I'm Christoph Trappe.
I've written two books, speak at conferences around the globe and blog frequently on here. I love sharing my stories and helping organizations share theirs.
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Thanks for reading!
- Christoph
ctrappe@christophtrappe.com
319-389-9853

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